Program Learning Outcomes

Mission Statement – Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science

The Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science is dedicated to creating inclusive learning communities that foster rigorous scholarship, research, and professional development across the chemical and environmental sciences. We prepare future scientists, educators, and professionals with strong foundations in both the theoretical and experimental aspects of chemistry, environmental science, sustainability, and earth science, while equipping them with the intellectual tools to address real-world scientific and societal challenges.

Through innovative programs of study, student-faculty research, interdisciplinary perspectives, and hands-on experiences in the laboratory, field, and classroom, our students develop the skills to achieve academic excellence and contribute to solving complex issues at the intersection of human and natural systems. We emphasize the importance of integrating scholarship with practice—whether through fieldwork, advanced laboratory analysis, or presenting and publishing research—ensuring our graduates are prepared to succeed in the workforce, pursue graduate studies, and remain life-long learners.

Chemistry - BS Goals

1. Students gain broad conceptual knowledge and acquire laboratory and computational skills in all areas of chemistry.
2. Students gain experience in data analysis and communicating scientific results with others.
3. Students are prepared to be lifelong learners who keep up with advances in chemistry.

Chemistry - BS Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to analyze scientific data and communicate scientific results in oral and written form.
2. Students will be able to assimilate new chemistry knowledge outside of the classroom, e.g. in a seminar setting.
3. Students will be able to demonstrate an ability to initiate a scientific investigation.
4. Students will be able to prepare common chemical reagents and buffers.
5. Students will be able to apply fundamental physical principles to solve problems related to thermochemistry and chemical kinetics.
6. Students will be able to develop and execute strategies to identify and quantify compounds using spectroscopic and other analytical techniques.
7. Students will be able to classify inorganic and organic compounds as well as common biomolecules and explain their chemical properties.
8. Students will be able to understand the unique properties of macromolecules and supramolecular complexes.
9. Students will be able to apply computational techniques to understanding chemical systems.
10. Students will be able to apply the principles of quantum mechanics to understand chemical systems.

Chemistry - BA Mission Statement

Mission Statement (currently under review): to provide future scientists, professionals and educators with rigorous training in both the theoretical and experimental aspects of all major disciplines in chemistry and with the intellectual tools to apply their training to solving real-world scientific problems and to be life-long learners in both academic and non-academic settings.

Chemistry - BA Goals

1. Students gain broad conceptual knowledge and acquire laboratory and computational skills in all areas of chemistry.
2. Students gain experience in data analysis and communicating scientific results with others.
3. Students are prepared to be lifelong learners who keep up with advances in chemistry.

Chemistry - BA Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to analyze scientific data and communicate scientific results in oral and written form.
2. Students will be able to assimilate new chemistry knowledge outside of the classroom, e.g. in a seminar setting.
3. Students will be able to demonstrate an ability to initiate a scientific investigation.
4. Students will be able to prepare common chemical reagents and buffers.
5. Students will be able to apply fundamental physical principles to solve problems related to thermochemistry and chemical kinetics.
6. Students will be able to identify and quantify compounds using spectroscopic and other analytical techniques.
7. Students will be able to classify inorganic and organic compounds as well as common biomolecules and explain their chemical properties.
8. Students will be able to understand the unique properties of macromolecules and supramolecular complexes.
9. Students will be able to apply computational techniques to understanding chemical systems.

Materials Chemistry - MS Mission Statement

Mission Statement (currently under review): to train chemists to be highly competent, confident and skilled professionals serving in the chemical industry and in academia in order to match the professional demand for highly skilled chemists with specialized expertise, e.g. in materials chemistry.

Materials Chemistry - MS Goals

1. Students understand how to use both analytical and synthetic techniques to characterize materials.
2. Students understand the structure, properties and functions of materials.
3. Students learn about different kinds of materials.
4. Students understand how materials are made, how they function and how they degrade.
5. Students can apply what they learn about materials.
6. Students can communicate effectively.

Materials Chemistry - MS Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to understand how to use both analytical and synthetic techniques to characterize materials.
2. Students will be able to understand how to use computational and theoretical techniques to characterize materials down to the atomic level.
3. Students will be able to understand the relationship between materials' structure and functions.
4. Students will be able to know physical and chemical properties typical of different types of materials.
5. Students will be able to describe different classes of materials and distinguish between them.
6. Students will learn how to synthesize different types of materials.
7. Students will be able to understand the chemical mechanisms involving material synthesis, function and degradation.
8. Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of how materials chemistry applies in specific contexts.
9. Students will be able to demonstrate their ability to apply a multi-disciplinary approach to materials research and development.
10. Students will be able to demonstrate effective oral and written communication skills.

Environmental Science - BS Student Learning Outcomes

1. Students will be able to integrate critical thinking skills and foundation knowledge from the fundamental sciences to the solution of environmental problems. 
2. Be able to locate and use information, methods, and techniques related to physical environment and apply it to the solution of environmental problems 
3. Understand the whole of the Earth/environment complex of processes and how humans can not only fit in harmony in the complex, but also can manage the Earth’s environmental resources in a proper and sustainable manner. 
4. The application of knowledge, research skills, laboratory methods and field techniques to environmental studies and related fields. 
5. Students will have the ability to handle field data using the tools of the digital age. 
6. Students will have the ability to collect, input, process, and analyze environmental data using research skills and laboratory and field techniques. 
7. Students entering the program can complete all degree requirements in a reasonable period of time. 
8. Students will work effectively with others in Environmental Science laboratories and other assignments. 
9. Students will acquire the oral and written communication skills required for entry into the profession. 

 Environmental Science - BS Goals 

1. To provide Environmental Science majors with fundamental interdisciplinary science skills applied to scholarship and research in our natural environment, with particular emphasis on the development a holistic view of the environment.